Donate $.99 to Local Food Banks with App

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of creating an app that allows users to donate to local food banks through a small purchase, inspired by a competition for food bank donations. Participants explore the implications, potential abuses, and personal experiences related to charitable donations and the effectiveness of such apps.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that an app could facilitate donations to food banks, leveraging the popularity of small purchases among consumers.
  • Another participant expresses concern about the potential for abuse and the reliability of charities, citing a personal preference for donating to local organizations where they have volunteered.
  • Some participants share their own charitable practices, focusing on local animal shelters and other causes, while reflecting on the effectiveness of donation campaigns.
  • A participant mentions dissatisfaction with Apple's ban on charity apps, indicating a broader issue within the nonprofit sector regarding fundraising methods.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the viability of the app idea, with some expressing enthusiasm while others raise concerns about trust and effectiveness in charitable donations.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight issues related to the transparency of charitable organizations and the allocation of funds, indicating a need for careful consideration of how donations are managed.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in charitable giving, app development for social causes, and discussions on the effectiveness of donation strategies may find this thread relevant.

Pengwuino
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I'm sure a lot of you are aware of the competition Wal-Mart is hosting where you 'like' a city on facebook in need of food bank donations. The winning city gets $1.5 million for food banks. Now, as people on the internet love to do, there have been hostilities and name calling all around with competing cities. People are even cheating, of course, so that my city, at the most, 1.1 million people in the metropolitan area, has achieved >2.2 million 'likes'.

So one of my friends who is cheering people on said that it's funny that people are voting for $1.5 million, but if everyone just donates a dollar, they'd easily surpass that amount. That gave me a brilliant idea! What if an app was created that by buying it, you donate the money to a local foodbank! The whole 'app' craze along with iTunes has shown definitively that people will throw $.99 at pretty much anything.

It has the two things Americans are best at: slacktivism and using their phones!

PATENT PENDING PATENT PENDING PATENT PENDING
 
Computer science news on Phys.org
The nonprofit world is stewing over the ban Apple has put on making donations on the iPhone via charity apps.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/technology/09charity.html

For good reason, it seems like apple does not allow charity apps. Personally, I am sick of these new charity/causes/donations marketing campaigns popping out every other week.
 
I really like the idea, but it seems like it would be widely and easily abused.

Personally, I would be really worried that the money is not going to the charity. Same reason I do not donate money to "donation solicitors" over the phone. Rarely does more than 25% of the donation go to the charity.

I try to donate to local places where I have actually volunteered at. The best volunteer work I have ever done (and really the only one I did for an extended amount of time) was working in the "puppy house" at NEADS while I was in grad school: http://www.neads.org/

They train service dogs for all sorts of disabilities. From hearing dogs to walking assistance dogs to little dogs that pull the blanket up on you. They get puppies donated to them and someone has to watch the puppies and take them for walks. It was really rough having to play with puppies for 3 or 4 hours on a Saturday morning...:smile:
 
I donate to the local animal shelters, I will put food into the Harvester's food barrels at the grocery store to be delivered to the needy, things like that. I used to donate my time to Diabetes, Heart and other foundations.

I just watched another heart wrenching ASPCA commercial with that sad song and those sad animal faces. I'm looking into how they use they're money, and if they are good, they're getting some money. I should donate to MIH's cat Ranch, and the similar doggie ranch, places that appear to really care.

Sorry, this is about charity apps.
 
Evo said:
I donate to the local animal shelters, I will put food into the Harvester's food barrels at the grocery store to be delivered to the needy, things like that. I used to donate my time to Diabetes, Heart and other foundations.

I just watched another heart wrenching ASPCA commercial with that sad song and those sad animal faces. I'm looking into how they use they're money, and if they are good, they're getting some money. I should donate to MIH's cat Ranch, and the similar doggie ranch, places that appear to really care.

Sorry, this is about charity apps.

Thats my favorite ad (OSPCA) on the TV :!)

BC-SPCA but they play similar video for OSPCA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gspElv1yvc

I have been thinking of getting involved in assistance dogs program (I learned about this last semester when I noticed a girl doing that. She would take her dog to everywhere on campus)/adopting a dog once I graduate.
 
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